2012 phenomenon
eschatological beliefs surrounding 21 December 2012
2012 phenomenon is a term referring to a range of beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on 21 December 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. A New Age interpretation of this transition is that the date marks the start of a time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation marking the beginning of a new era. Others suggested that the date marked the end of the world or a similar catastrophe.
General
edit- It's the End of Days, Judgement Day, the End of the World, my friend. The Mayans knew about it, the Hopis, The Bible... kind of.
- Harald Kloser and Roland Emmerich, in lines written for the character "Charlie Frost" in 2012 (2009).
- Man, no wonder our lives is caught up in the daily superstition that the world is about to end, who gives a fuck? We never do listen, unless it comes with an 808, a melody and some hoes.
- Kendrick Lamar, "A.D.H.D", Section.80 (2011)
- According to Hindu cosmology, we're in the Kali Yuga, a dark period when the cow of history is balanced precariously on one leg, soon to topple. Then there are our new-age friends who believe that this December we're in for a global cage-rattling which, once the dust has settled, will usher in a great spiritual awakening.
Most of this apocalyptic noise appears to be just wishful thinking on the part of people who find life too messy and uncertain for comfort, let alone for serenity and mirth. The truth, from my perspective, is that the world, indeed, is ending – and is also being reborn. It's been doing that all day, every day, forever. Each time we exhale, the world ends; when we inhale, there can be, if we allow it, rebirth and spiritual renewal. It all transpires inside of us. In our consciousness, in our hearts. All the time.
Otherwise, ours is an old, old story with an interesting new wrinkle. Throughout most of our history, nothing – not flood, famine, plague, or new weapons – has endangered humanity one-tenth as much as the narcissistic ego, with its self-aggrandizing presumptions and its hell-hound spawn of fear and greed. The new wrinkle is that escalating advances in technology are nourishing the narcissistic ego the way chicken manure nourishes a rose bush, while exploding worldwide population is allowing its effects to multiply geometrically. Here's an idea: let's get over ourselves, buy a cherry pie, and go fall in love with life.
Bolon Yokte' K'uh
edit- Comments on the god or gods mentioned to descend at the end of the 13th b'ak'tun in Mayan writings, alphabetized by author
- tzuhtzjo:m uy-u:xlaju:n pik
chan ajaw u:x uni:w
uhto:m il[?]
ye'ni/ye:n bolon yokte'
ta chak joyaj- It will be completed the 13th b'ak'tun.
It is 4 Ajaw 3 K'ank'in
and it will happen a 'seeing'[?].
It is the display of B'olon-Yokte'
in a great "investiture".- Anonymous scribe on Monument 6 at Tortuguero; this is the only known example of a Mayan prophecy specifically related to the date corresponding to 21 December 2012 in the modern Gregorian Calendar, as translated in "What Could Happen in 2012 : A Re-Analysis of the 13-Bak'tun Prophecy on Tortuguero Monument 6" (2010) by Sven Gronemeyer and Barbara MacLeod, Wayeb Notes (University of Copenhagen: European Association of Mayanists) 34: 1–68
- Finished will be the 13th Bak'tun, The descent of Bolon Yokte will happen.
- As quoted in Maya Hieroglyphic Forum at Texas (2002).
- It will be completed the 13th b'ak'tun.
- "They tell us that the god of change, Bolon Yokte, will descend from the Black something and carry out . . . something."
Stunned silence followed. "Something," Moore said. "What do you mean, something?"
McCarter shrugged. "No one knows."- Graham Brown, in Black Sun: A Thriller (2010), p. 148.
- Only two actual events are then described for this special date, being darkness and the descent of the god Bolon Yokte. If we are to make any sense of the reference to Bolon Yokte descending, we first need to take a look into the meaning of this particular gods' name and any special associations it has with earthly events.
- Bruce Fenton and Daniella Cardenas in 2012 Rising : The Last Tzolkin (2012), p. 50.
- Bolon Yokte' is rarely mentioned but is thought to represent positive change and period endings. However, other scholars have attributed the deity to destruction, thus corraborating the fatalist doomsday view.
- Daniel J. Gansle, in 2012 : Day of Reckoning, p. 218.
- Whatever Monument 6 has to tell us pertains to the dedication of the building associated with the sculpture. It has nothing to do with prophecy of the supposed dread events that await us in AD 2012. About that the Maya are notably silent … or, truth be told, a bit boring.
- Stephen Houston, as quoted in 2012 : Day of Reckoning, by Daniel J. Gansle p. 218.
- It will happen, the witnessing of the display of Bolon-Yokte' in the great impersonation.
This is actually much more than we should expect. Several Maya monumental texts look into the future, and the events 'prophesied' are almost always trivial: "It will be a Thursday, and Lord So-and-So's anniversary."- Jim Young, in 2013!: The Beginning Is Here (2011), p. 88.